Cuban Steak

This is one of our favorites on the grill - juicy sirloin steak marinated and sliced and served medium rare. This steak is perfect for topping a fresh green salad.

Cuban Steak
2 pounds beef sirloin steak
1/2 cup orange juice
1/4 cup lime juice
1/4 cup canola oil
1 teaspoons oregano
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 cup steak seasoning (Montreal or Mrs Dash)
2 cloves garlic, minced

Combine juices, seasonings, garlic and oil and let steak marinate in a sturdy plastic bag in the refrigerator for 3-6 hours. You can let it sit overnight too if you wish, but the longer the steak sits, the tangier it becomes. For a gentle flavor I always use six hours. Drain steak from marinade, pat dry and grill to your perfect doneness.

Marinated Skirt Steak Tacos

The sky has been so blue this week, breaking through a huge rainy spell, that I got the feeling for something a bit summery. I couldn't help it - so much snow and rain begin to wear you down. So I thought some tacos would fix the winter funk. And steak tacos are extra yummy.

Marinated Skirt Steak Tacos
1 skirt steak - about 1.5 pounds
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
1/4 cup canola oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon white vinegar
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon ground cumin, divided
1 teaspoon ground ancho chili powder, divided
Whole wheat tortillas
Low fat sour cream
Fresh broccoli slaw
Tomatoes
Red onions
Shredded lettuce
Low fat shredded cheese
Karen's Salsa with Fresh Cilantro or Salsa Verde

Remove membrane from skirt steak. Marinate overnight in bag with juice, vinegar, oil, soy sauce, half of the cumin and ancho chili powder. Heat stovetop grill until it's nice and hot. Cut steak into manageable sizes and sear quickly for a couple of minutes on each side. Remove steak and let it rest. Sprinkle the remaining cumin and ancho powder on the meat. Slice thinly against the grain and serve on tortilla with your favorite taco fixings.

Slow Roasted Beef with Pineapple Orange Sauce

This delicious recipe has been floating around my family for many years. It makes an appearance when large groups gather - graduation parties, christenings, or birthdays. It is delicious hot or cold, on it's own or in a bun. The secret is to slowly roast the beef to medium-rare, and then drizzle with the sauce.

Slow Roasted Beef with Pineapple Orange Sauce
1 beef eye of the round roast, approx 4 lbs.
4 teaspoons kosher salt (for the beef) plus 1/2 teaspoon (for the sauce
1 medium thinly sliced onion
1 cup water
1 cup ketchup
1 tablespoon canola oil
2/3 cup frozen pineapple-orange juice concentrate
4 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch

Rub the beef with 4 teaspoons of kosher salt and tightly wrap in plastic wrap. Let meat sit in the refrigerator for 24 hours. The next day, remove beef, allow to come to room temperature and wipe off all salt and dry with paper towel. Preheat oven to 225 F. Sear beef in a cast iron skillet with a few drops of oil until it is nicely browned all around the roast.  Insert a meat thermometer in the end through the center of the beef and slowly roast. While beef is cooking, saute onions in canola oil until translucent. Add salt, cornstarch and brown sugar and mix well. Add water, ketchup and juice concentrate and heat until thick and bubbly. When the meat approaches 90 F, drizzle with a ladle of sauce. When the beef reaches 115 F, turn off the oven (be sure to keep the oven door closed!) and allow it to reach an internal temperature of 130 F (medium-rare). Remove beef from the oven, let sit for 15 minutes and slice. Serve with the remaining sauce.

This large roast will serve a large group as part of a buffet. Eye of the round is lean, so there is not much shrinkage. The sweet fruity sauce and low cooking temperature makes this great for summer parties.  If you really must have your meat more well done, you can cook it initially to a temperature of 125 F, then turn the oven off and let the roast reach 140 F. This will give you a roast cooked medium. Anything more well done and you should probably choose a different cut of beef. Eye of the round will become very tough if cooked past medium, and is truly at it's best when medium-rare.

Turkish Meatballs in Tomato Sauce

(Sulu Köfte)
Anybody who lives in Western Pennsylvania and regions close all have one thing on mind right now. STEELERS! Everyone is gathering their Super Bowl recipes and preparing to make an extravaganza of football munchies. Last weekend was the playoff game and I too was thinking about savory munchies. So in the tailgating spirit, with a bit of my international cravings, I found an easy Turkish recipe for meatballs in tomato sauce. No grape jelly and chili sauce meatballs in a Crock Pot this year - I am keeping things healthy and delicious.

Turkish Meatballs in Tomato Sauce
1/2 pound lean ground beef (90/10)
1/4 cup fine bulgur
1/4 cup long grain rice
2 small onions, one grated & one sliced thinly
2 cups beef broth
1 14.5 ounce can whole peeled tomatoes, drained and chopped
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 large egg
1 teaspoon dried mint
1 teaspoon Aleppo pepper (Halaby pepper)
2 cloves garlic, minced
dried parsley
salt
gresh ground black pepper

Combine meat, grated onion, bulgur, rice, egg, mint, Aleppo pepper and garlic in a bowl. Season with a few grinds of fresh ground black pepper and a pinch of salt and set aside. In a heavy pot, saute sliced onion in olive oil and when transluscent, add broth, tomato paste, tomates and season with salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a boil. On a large dish, spread flour. Form small meatballs and roll into flour, making sure all meatballs are covered with flour. Drop meatballs into boiling tomato broth and stir slowly. Turn down heat to a simmer and cook meatballs for about 30 minutes until sauce is thick and meatballs are cooked. Garnish with parsley. After the meatballs are cooked through you can pop the meatballs and sauce in a Crock Pot and serve with the rest of your football nosh.

Ethiopian Beef Tibs

This recipe is inspired by one I saw on the Cooking Channel show Foodography, a show that explores the history and variations of different foods. I was immediately planning my strategy of the making of Tibs. Ethiopian ingredients are not something one finds in their local rural grocery store. And being on a budget I swapped the Injera bread for a whole grain tortilla. It was a huge stretch but unavoidable. Then I moved on to the Berbere spice. Even my overstocked spice supply was inadequate. Thanks to Amazon, Berbere was mine in two days for under $10. On to cooking!

After cooking I dug into the warm beefy tibs. Spicy delicious yum! I tossed the tortilla in the end, it was too heavy and floury. Brown rice worked beautifully instead. Maybe some day I will get me to a place to try the real dish, but for now I am feeling the sweet heat and loving it.

Ethiopian Beef Tibs
2 lbs lean sirloin roast, cut into 1 inch cubes
1 large sweet onion, sliced
1 14.5 ounce can whole tomatoes, drained and cut into large chunks
3 jalapeño peppers, seeds and pith removed, diced
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 1/2 tablespoons berbere
1/2 teaspoon salt


Quickly saute beef until just brown in a large skillet with about 2 tablespoons of the olive oil. Be sure not to overcook, let the meat be cooked medium. Remove beef and drain. Add the remaining olive oil to the skillet and saute the onions until barely translucent. Add the berbere and saute until fragrant. Add tomatoes, salt and beef and cook for a few minutes until the spices are blended in. Toss in the diced jalapeño and serve. 

Spicy Beef Chili

My mother used to make chili often, but I have no idea what her recipe was. It's all lost now, and that is a sad thing. But back then when she was alive and I was young her chili didn't impress me at all. It had big scary looking beans in a rather smooth meat sauce and a flavor that was not exactly memorable. Now I crave something spicy and beefy and chili is the obvious choice. Since I don't have my mom's recipe to tinker with, I made my own. The beans are too valuable nutritionally to take away, so I did some fancy footwork to make them less obtrusive.

Spicy Beef Chili

2 pounds Ground beef
1 medium Onion chopped
3 cloves Garlic minced
1 can (4 oz) Mild green chiles diced
1 can (28 oz) Crushed tomatoes
1 can (8 oz) Tomato sauce
1 tablespoon Ground cumin

3 tablespoons mixed ground chiles:

    2 teaspoons Ground Ancho pepper;
    2 teaspoons Ground Anaheim pepper;
    2 teaspoons Ground Chipotle pepper; 
    1/4 teaspoon Ground Cayenne pepper;

    or

    3 tablespoons your favorite chili powder
1/2 teaspoon Kosher Salt
1 tablespoon Canola Oil
1 can (16 oz) Pinto beans drained
 

Rinse and drain pinto beans and pulse once or twice in a food processor to break them up. Set beans aside. Saute onion in canola oil until just golden. Add minced garlic and continue to saute for one minute and remove from pot. Brown ground beef in pot and drain fat. Combine all ingredients back into pot and allow to heat for an hour. Serve with shredded cheddar cheese and bread, or Cincinnati-style with cheese and onions over spaghetti. You can also serve it on brown rice. Garnish with sour cream if desired.

Beef Barley Stew

I always feel like I am taking a step back into the past when I cook beef stew. Stews cooked on the hearth while family members were busily doing their work. They fed a whole family and felt warm inside. And they are pretty humble - both in cost and looks. It's like walking back a couple of centuries.  The warm hearty stew is very adaptable. You can use hulless barley or pearl barley, bison or beef, and change the veggies all about to something you like or whatever you have on hand. And cooking for an extended period of time is delicious.

Beef Barley Stew
2 lbs cubed beef or bison
2 1/2 cups beef stock
1/2 cup hulless barley
1 cup chopped celery
1 cup chopped onion
1 teaspoon Worchestershire sauce
2 bay leaves
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1/4 teaspoon sweet pakrika
fresh ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt
1 tablespoon cornstarch

Combine beef, vegetables, bay leaves, stock, Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper in a covered heavy pot and bring to a boil. Turn down heat and allow to cook on low heat for three hours or in a Crock Pot for about 8 hours. Prior to serving, bring to a boil and mix cornstarch with about two tablespoons of water and pour into stew to thicken. Add mustard and paprika and additional salt and pepper to taste. Serve with a nice chunk of crusty bread.

Hulless barley will be chewier than pearl barley, and will require at least two hours to fully cook. Don't worry, the stew doesn't mind!

Swiss Steak

My mom had a nice little collection of favorite recipes that she would cook. Unfortunately, most of them were found in cookbooks and never written down on cards or saved. She would only refer back to the cookbook that the recipe was in. Now that she is gone, it has been difficult to find the favorites I grew up with. Swiss steak is one of those recipes. I have no idea where she got her recipe, and it is not written down. So this leaves me to try to find a way of making it myself. Maybe one day I will replicate what she made - tender steaks with a tomato gravy. But until then, this recipe is easy and delicious. Maybe someday I will perfect the gravy!

Swiss Steak
1 1/2 pounds beef cubed steak
1 14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes
1 large onion, diced
2 stalks celery, chopped fine
2 carrots, shredded
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup flour
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/2 teaspoon salt
fresh ground black pepper
canola oil

Dredge steaks in flour and brown on both sides in a skillet with about two tablespoons of canola oil. Set steaks aside. Saute onions, celery and carrot until softened, and when done, add garlic. Combine vegetables with can of tomatoes and paprika, salt, pepper, Worcestershire sauce and allow to cook for a few minutes. Toss everything into a crock pot and cook 8 hours until steaks are fork tender. Serve with pasta or mashed potatoes. You can also make this on the stove top in a dutch oven instead of a slow cooker. Just add about a cup of water or broth and simmer everything low and slow for about two hours.

Bison Pot Roast with Dill Sauce

I have been working a lot of overtime lately, and having a nice warm fork tender pot roast waiting for me when I get home is enough to soothe the stress away. My trusty Crock Pot is always bubbling away with something yummy in it. And this time of year, when the weather gets chilly, pot roast is what I crave.

I always used a beef chuck roast in my Crock Pot. But lately, I have been using Bison. It tastes just like beef - seriously! This is not the "tastes just like chicken" line. And it is leaner and better for you. Bison has 67% less fat than beef, and 46% fewer calories. Bison can be healthier than chicken. But it is a bit expensive and sometimes hard to find. So if you want to use beef, go right ahead - it all works the same.

 Bison Pot Roast with Dill Sauce
1 1/2 lb chuck roast (bison or beef)
1 large onion, sliced
1 cup low sodium beef stock
1/2 cup white wine vinegar
1 teaspoon dill weed
1 cup low fat or fat free sour cream
3 tablespoons whole wheat flour
2 tablespoons canola oil
fresh ground black pepper

In a hot skillet with oil, sear roast on both sides until brown and place in slow cooker. In same skillet, saute onion until caramelized and put on top of roast. Combine broth, vinegar and dill weed and pour over roast. Season with fresh ground black pepper and cook on low for 9-10 hours. When ready to serve, remove roast and wrap in aluminum foil to keep warm (be careful - the roast is very very tender). Turn slow cooker up to high and allow broth to bubble. Mix flour with about 1/2 cup of water and pour into bubbling broth to thicken. When thick, stir in sour cream. Serve beef with pasta and a drizzle of sauce. Garnish with a sprinkle of additional dill weed if desired.

If you are using a beef chuck roast, you will see a lot more liquid and fat in the pot after cooking. You may want to skim off the fat, and remove some of the broth (keep about two cups or so) before making the sauce. My roast was cooked in a 3.5 quart cooker. If yours is a larger slow cooker increase the amounts on all of the ingredients.

Turkish Pasta with Meat and Yogurt Sauce

(Yoğurtlu Kıymalı Makarna)
My taste buds' trip to Turkey is long overdue. They have had their bags packed and have been patiently waiting for me to get cooking what is one of the healthiest cuisines in the world. It's also one of the largest, full of history and influencing all of the countries around it. So off I went to imagine myself at the Bosphorus, wandering the streets of Istanbul and smelling the fragrance of the spice market. I got lost for a while, and it made me really really hungry, so I cooked up this beautiful pasta dish. It may be simple food - but there is nothing like it around here. Very yummy!

Turkish Pasta with Meat and Yogurt Sauce

8 ounces extra lean ground beef (97/3), or bison
1 medium Onion, chopped
1/2 cup all natural fat free yogurt
4 cloves Garlic, minced
2 tablespoons Tomato paste
2 tablespoons Extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon Canola Oil
1/4 teaspoon Ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon Sweet Hungarian paprika, divided
1/4 teaspoon Ground cinnamon
Kosher Salt
Fresh ground black pepper
cooked pasta

For the meat sauce:
Saute chopped onion in 1 tablespoon olive oil until golden and translucent. Add two of the cloves of minced garlic and lean ground beef and saute until meat is cooked through. Stir in tomato paste, cumin, and 1/8 teaspoons of sweet paprika and cinnamon. Turn heat to low and keep warm.

For the yogurt sauce:
Mince two of the garlic cloves and combine with one pinch of kosher salt and mash into a paste. Add to yogurt and set aside and allow to come to room temperature. I used organic fat free plain yogurt, but you could use regular yogurt too.

For the oil drizzle:
Combine 1 tablespoon canola oil with additional 1/8 teaspoon of both cayenne pepper and sweet paprika. Heat in microwave safe container for 30 seconds until warm. Set aside. Butter is most commonly used for this and you could use it instead of canola oil.

Makes two servings:
Serve 3/4 to 1 cup cooked pasta (I used whole wheat fusili) with 1/2 of the meat sauce and a dollop of yogurt. Drizzle with a few drops of the oil. Garnish with fresh cucumber slices.

Rissoles

This recipe is dedicated to cyber buddy Andrew, a witty meatball who inspired me to research and create my own rissoles. I had never heard of these meat croquettes before. But what I have learned is that they are best known in the UK and Australia and are budget conscious veggie and meat mixtures perfect for deep frying or grilling on "the barbie". You can add almost any type of vegetable you have on hand, and serve them with a variety of condiments. I served mine grilled with Asian sweet chili sauce.

Rissoles
1 pound lean ground beef
1 small zucchini, shredded
1 small carrot, shredded
1 medium onion, diced
1 large egg
4 cloves garlic, minced
4 tablespoons plain bread crumbs
1 tablespoon tomato paste
2 tablespoons barbecue sauce
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper

Saute vegetables in a few tablespoons in a skillet until softened and set aside to cool. If you are using leftover vegetables you can skip the sauteing and just mix your pre-cooked veggies with the meat. When cool, combine vegetables with meat, egg, bread crumbs, tomato paste and barbecue sauce and form into small slightly flattened balls (about 1/4 cup each). If you wish to fry, you can coat the meatballs with additional bread crumbs. Allow to chill in the refrigerator so that they will be nice and firm when cooking.  Fry in hot oil (about 1/2 inch deep in a deep skillet) or grill. Gently turn rissoles over and grill or fry on the other side. Serve with barbecue sauce, chili sauce or even gravy.

Pineapple Teriyaki Steak Salad

Nothing beats a juicy steak. Just thinking about it makes my mouth water. I am truly a carnivore and the beef beastie is my favorite along with the pork beastie. I grill steaks outside all year long, but in the summer I love it best with a cool crisp salad and some fresh fruit. This dish has all three together for the perfect hot weather meal.

Pineapple Teriyaki Steak Salad

Marinade:
1/2 cup pineapple juice

1/2 cup soy sauce
4 tablespoons cider vinegar
4 tablespoons sesame oil
2 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon ground ginger
2 cloves garlic finely chopped 

Dressing:

1/3 cup pineapple juice

1/3 cup rice wine vinegar (cider or white vinegar work too)

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 tablespoon sugar

Marinate two pounds of steak (flank or skirt steak) in the marinade overnight. Grill until perfect (for me perfect is medium rare) and allow to sit for 5-10 minutes. Slice thinly and serve on a bed of fresh romaine with fresh pineapple and a splash of dressing. Enjoy!

Bibimbap

(Korean Mixed Vegetables and Rice)
Rice is a glorious canvas to paint a delicious meal. Zoë found me this recipe, and I was all for trying something new, especially with rice. This is a Korean dish, basically a mixture of meat and leftover side-dish veggies known as banchan, beautifully arranged on a bed of rice and garnished with an egg before mixing and eating. There is no disguising leftovers here, the leftovers themselves are the star of the show. I am all for authentic food, but unfortunately I don't keep an assortment of banchan in my refrigerator. And as a busy working woman, I do my best to create the authentic flavor using what limited ingredients I can find in a dish that can be tossed in a container and eaten at work. But I did take the obligatory beauty shot...

...before I smooshed it all together for the weeks eating.

It's as close as I can get to Korean food in rural Pennsylvania, and it sure is delicious and keeps well.

Bibimbap

1 1/2 cups Long grain rice
1 pound Ground beef
4 tablespoon Soy sauce
1 tablespoon Sesame oil
2 medium Scallion
2 cloves Garlic
1 tablespoon Toasted sesame seeds crushed
1 1/2 teaspoon Sugar
2 cups Mung bean sprouts
1 cup Celery thinly sliced on the diagonal
2 medium Carrots shredded

2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar

Sriracha (to taste)
Fresh ground black pepper
Kosher Salt 
additional peanut oil to stir fry veggies

Steam the rice, toss with rice wine vinegar and set aside. Mix beef, soy sauce, sesame oil, scallions, garlic, sesame seeds, salt and pepper and fry slowly in a skillet or wok until meat is done. Add bean sprouts (drained if using canned) and cook until heated through. Do not overcook. Remove from heat. Cut celery thin on the diagonal and sprinkle lightly with salt. Let celery stand for 15 minutes and then drain liquid squeeze excess liquid. Shred carrots.

In a second fry pan, saute celery in 2 teaspoons vegetable oil and add to meat mixture. Do the same with the carrots after the celery is done. Combine all into the meat and serve over hot cooked rice. Garnish with a nice dollop of Sriracha.

Beef with Peanuts

This recipe comes from my Grandma Harvey. My aunt Ellen tells me that her recipes came from both her mother Sophia Kraft and my grandfather's mother Ella Harvey. My Grandpa Harvey also went to gourmet cooking school. According to Ellen, she would cook "Japanese, Chinese, Greek, field game,  you name it she cooked it."

Beef with Peanuts
1 pound top round steak, sliced
1/2 cup onions, sliced
4 cups bok choy, shredded
2 cups mung bean sprouts
1 cup raw peanuts
1/2 cup chicken broth
2 teaspoons peanut oil
2 teaspoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon cornstarch

Combine broth, soy sauce and cornstarch in a small bowl and set aside.  In a skillet or wok, fry peanuts in peanut oil until golden. Remove peanuts from wok and set aside. Stir fry vegetables briefly until crisp tender and then remove from the wok and set aside. Put beef into wok and stir fry until just cooked through. Add broth and soy sauce mixture and heat until thick. Return vegetables and peanuts to the wok and stir until heated through. Serve over hot rice.

Red Beef Curry

Some day I want to travel to India. Actually I have a lot of places I want to visit, but India is in the top three. I blame this fascination on my mother. Her passion was China. So great was her love of Chinese culture that she learned Chinese painting and earned her black belt in Karate. Eventually she was able to visit the country she had come to love and enjoy it's beauty and it's people. This hunger to learn about other cultures is one of the greatest gifts she gave me. So until the time comes when I can visit the places I wish to go, I imagine myself being there with the food.

This is an easy curry to make on a weeknight. It keeps and reheats well, and lets me imagine myself in a faraway place during my work lunch break. Sometimes I need that mini-vacation to keep going the rest of the day!

Red Beef Curry
1 2-pound beef flank steak
1 28-ounce can of diced tomatoes
3 sweet onions, sliced
1/2 cup red curry paste
1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons ghee (clarified butter), or vegetable oil

Slice flank steak in half lengthwise, and then cut each half into thin strips along the bias and set aside. Saute onions in one tablespoon of the ghee until translucent. Remove onions and set aside. Saute beef strips in the remaining tablespoon of ghee until medium rare. Drain meat if needed and return to skillet. Add curry paste to the meat and saute to cook the curry paste for a minute. Add onions, tomatoes, and water and simmer gently until heated through. Serve over steamed rice.

Porcupine Balls

This recipe belonged to my Grandma, Louise Harvey. I was the typical picky eater as a child. Going to the Harvey's for a meal was always a bit mysterious. Unlike my other grandmother who we called "Mom", The Harvey's always had different food. "Mom" served Irish fare - roast beef and potatoes, and Grandma Harvey often cooked oddities like duck, or liver. I was always a bit apprehensive when we went there to eat. When she first served me this dish, everyone was happily eating while I spent a good deal of time studying it. You never knew when liver might be hiding in something Grandma made.

I found a similar recipe in my vintage cookbook collection - The Heinz Book of Meat Cookery, published in 1934. It makes sense as we lived in Pittsburgh, and Heinz is a famous Pittsburgh food institution. The published recipe calls for cans of tomato soup. Back in the 30s women were excited about time saving in the kitchen. If you use tomato soup, you do not need the flour and butter to thicken it and you will want to use two cans of soup. Add some water if you feel it's too thick. Grandma's recipe was a bit shy on instructions, so I have done my best recreating it.

Porcupine Balls
1 pound ground pork
1 pound ground beef
1/2 cup long-grain rice, uncooked
2 large eggs
l  large can crushed tomatoes
1 small onion, chopped fine
1 clove garlic, chopped fine
1 tablespoon butter or shortening
1 tablespoon flour
pinch red pepper or cayenne

Wash rice and combine with ground meats, onion, garlic, eggs, and cayenne pepper.  Form into balls and place in a large baking dish. In a saucepan, melt butter or shortening and add flour to make a roux. Add tomatoes and cook until thick. Pour tomato sauce over meatballs. Bake at 350 for an hour, or until meatballs are cooked through. I added an extra pinch of cayenne into those tomatoes for some extra punch.

Grandma's notes say that this recipe can be used as a filling for stuffed peppers by replacing the rice with bread crumbs. She also suggested that you could use veal and pork instead of beef. Back in those days, veal was sometimes less expensive than beef. I imagine you could stuff some cabbage with this too. But that is a recipe for another day!